Posts by thejoelr

My God, it's full of tabs: Vivaldi's coolest new features shine on phones and cars

Re: Bigger numbers != better

I was really confused by this also.

Also, Vivaldi is awesome and I love it. I won't mention my open tab count...

Google's Pichai tells underlings exec bonuses will be clipped

Pichai is a CFO at heart.

He only makes decisions based on profit, but then gets scared when people innovate like OpenAI. If he continues to cut anything that might generate a new 'big thing' for Google there isn't going to be one. He is the problem.

Salesforce: There's no more Slack left to cut

salesforce ruining slack.

I watched one of their presentations on new slack features coming soon. They looked useful. The problem is they want you to use salesforce instead of adding new things to slack. If they are only going to use slack to upsell and shill their other stuff they are going to lose customers. They are just going to kill a growing product.

Southwest Airlines sued for failing to give prompt refunds after IT meltdown

Re: The icon is for Southwest's upper-management brain-trust

You don't want a travel voucher from the airline who just ruined your Christmas?

Pine64 takes another shot at an open tablet after chip shortages killed first PineTab

Re: State of the Pine64 organization; why things are as they are.

I think they survive on enthusiasts who haven't purchased from them before. I knew the situation going in, and I have a PinePhone. I used it as a hotspot for a while. I haven't needed that lately though.

AWS strains to make Simple Storage Service not so simple to screw up

Re: Cursed IAM

This is why all the buckets end up public. People encounter the extremely difficult access control blocks and either make mistakes or just grant full access to move onto other tasks. The change sounds more like CYA.

TikTok could be banned from America, thanks to proposed bipartisan bill

Not going to happen with this proposal.

Everyone hates Rubio and he does lots of things just for publicity. This has zero chance.

Bahamian rap: Crypto villain Sam Bankman-Fried arrested

Re: And yet

Even if crypto isn't a scam, it seems like everyone big involved in it is a scammer.

NixOS 22.11 'Raccoon': Like a proof of concept you can do things with

I am also a desktop and server user. I use the basic concepts as graham, but run a tmpfs as root. There are two things I want to clarify in the post that I found unclear. First, there is a binary cache and it only compiles when necessary. Second, the packages webpage is super useful, but you can use 'nix-env -qaP' to search for packages from the command line, however not specifying it in a configuration file sort of defeats the purpose of a system you can easily reproduce. The ability to boot into a previous working configuration is extremely useful. Overall the distribution is very useful for sysadmins and developers once you tackle the learning curve.

Musk says spat with Apple over App Store ejection threat for Twitter was 'misunderstanding'

It said twitter. When the app store controls access to spacex or tesla, then it may apply.

Re: Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding

Yeah. He skipped details on if he was going to pay Apple's normal rate for in-app purchases. Also, this is all coming from one side, so he gets the chance to bend the truth. Must have also been nice to visit a workplace that wasn't a ghost town.

.NET open source is 'heavily under-funded' says AWS

Re: So in summary

See the elasticsearch/opensearch, grafana...

Re: So in summary

embrace, extend...

Bring in .NET users with lower prices, entangle them in AWS services tightly, profit.

Cloudflare finds a way through China's network defences

COVID?

That bit about covid seems very unrelated to the rest of things.

As recession looms, Workday warns that legacy HR systems need updating

In the face of reduced business spending, Workday recommends you spend money on them.. now is the perfect time!

Twitter is suffering from mad bro disease. Open thinking can build it back better

Facebook.

The reality is that many Twitter users aren't going to Mastodon. It has new quirks they aren't used to and the registration process is harder. The real company who will benefit is Facebook.They will absorb an increase in traffic easily and serve more ads. They may lack the same features as twitter, but I think they will just be lost.

No formal certifications? CUE the Ubuntu skills testing scheme

Certified snap ttechnician

Yeah, no thanks. It would be a moneymaker if someone like Debian did certs though.

I'm happy paying Twitter eight bucks a month because price isn't the same as value

It's a great identifier.

The blue check is a great identifier of who is dumb enough to pay for it. I refuse to give any elon company a dime.

Unlucky for some: Meta chops 13% of global workforce

A lot of companies seem to be claiming that. They are just covering that the pandemic boom is over and it is time to downsize.

It may be unpopular everywhere, but I sort of respect that he willing to take the metaverse risk. FB is stale and there are tons of articles about how it is your parents/grandparents social network now. So he is willing to take a risk rather than sit and run a company that will slowly decline. Investors are just worried about quarterly earnings reports. See Google for what that does to a company.

Intel's top-spec Raptor Canyon NUC can double as a 700+W space heater

So they release a follow-up to their line of 2 slot offerings which existed in the age of 2.4-3 slot GPUs, and it is a 3 slot with a 450w max... in the age of an NVIDIA reference design being 3 slots and asking for 600w. Also, the NUC 12 is only recently available. Will the 13 really be available so soon?

Strong support for Snap and Ubuntu Core as Canonical meet IRL

Although Canonical does not track downloads, installations, machines running snaps or anything else

An early-access version of the Steam game store has been available as a snap for about six months, and the company told us it has been installed over 100,000 times already, even before its official release.

I only have ubuntu machines left because they are legacy. When they are replaced they won't be ubuntu. Snaps are really annoying. I think most people avoid them where possible..

9front releases new version of Plan 9 OS fork: The Golden Age of Ballooning

It's good ideas moved on.

The unix folks moved to Google after plan9 and took some of the best bits with them. Stuff like 9p is in active use in qemu I think, and it is a wonderful simple protocol. The go language is well suited for use with acme. Go compilation errors are structured for use in acme. It is interesting, but it is built on a computing paradigm we just don't use. Servers that provide compute, servers for storage... It was underfunded at the end of bell labs, and the 9front people appear to be the last torchbearers. It isn't something that will ever see investment or dramatic improvement.

Why I love my Chromebook: Reason 1, it's a Linux desktop

Huh? Didn't we just hate Chromebooks?

This site published a review of ChromeOS Flex, which has linux support, a few months ago and hated it. I'm too lazy to look it up, but I remember disagreeing with it. Pick a lane...

Gartner thinks enterprise IT will be immune to recession

Seems dated already.

If they gathered this info in July they missed a lot of huge companies signalling tightening for a recession. This will have spread to other companies even if they aren't affected yet.

The 2020 comparison is so obviously flawed. Spending then was to continue business and not optional. Now it totally is. Just extend the lifetime of existing infrastructure. Their comments on cloud are flawed also. Fewer customers means reduced resources needed to handle them. And in most organizations there is room to cut in their cloud bills including killed project infrastructure. The benefit of cloud being opex cuts both ways. It allows quick resizing, so bills can be adjusted quite rapidly. It isn't quite the same a the cost of buying new servers, but it is false to think that cloud costs can't go down significantly.

I imagine Gartner is aware of some of this and doesn't let reality get in the way of publishing something. Deadlines to meet!

Canonical makes Ubuntu Pro free for up to five machines

Yeah. Which bit is new? This is something they already had...

Someone's at last helping AI models understand those with speech disabilities

Re: Project Relate

The last I heard they were looking for participants. I think the initial closed nature really limited participation.

Project Relate

Google started relate a year ago allowing participants to submit voice samples and get back a tailored voice assistant model.

Google kills off Stadia

self fulfilling

google cancels the project because it is not profitable, google announces a new project but no one uses it because google cancels a lot of projects so google cancels the project because it is not profitable, google announces a new project but no one uses it because google cancels a lot of projects so google cancels the project because it is not profitable, google announces a new project but no one uses it because google cancels a lot of projects so google cancels the project because it is not profitable, google announces a new project but no one uses it because google cancels a lot of projects so ...

Something like that. Stadia would have taken time and innovation to succeed, and Google can't see past this quarter's profits.

Tencent has its Meta moment as CEO Pony Ma outlines 'immersive convergence'

Interesting tech, worst people

It is interesting technology. I'm not convinced it will be as huge as they hope, but the real problem I have is that the worst companies in the world are the ones most interested in it.

Grab – Asia's Uber – knows customers and drivers so well it can vet them for loans

Re: Nomen omen

They're surprisingly candid about the depth of data they capture, but it is an insight into the kinds of things other companies do and don't talk about.

Billionaire CEO tells Googlers 'we shouldn’t always equate fun with money'

Talk to them like they are idiots.

Try to hire the best and then make statements that are obvious bullshit instead of being honest. That is disrespectful. If he is willing to lie about this, what else will he lie about? The economy is a great excuse to trim spending now that the pandemic is over. Maybe they overhired. But they also keep cutting R&D... Normal accounting management to take profits now on the quarterly results to score performance bonuses and forget the long term prospects of the company. Google is becoming what I picture IBM was like... boring and adverse to any risk.

Re: ..." and it shouldn’t always equate to money."

Yeah. People work at startups because of the chance of the stock becoming very valuable. Google is warning about shrinking and doing layoffs...

Philippines decides outsourcers need incentives to stick around, after all

Real estate.

This is a problem many places sans the tax break. There was heavy real estate investment. Business property, nearby condos and such. The beginning of the pandemic saw foreign casino operations abandon their rentals and disappear overnight. As the pandemic continued, businesses continued to shrink their footprint in real estate. Businesses nearby suffered from lack of business and closed. So the battle was really between those wanting their real estate investments to be profitable again vs companies who had learned how much you can save by people working out of their homes. And, the Philippine economy is in a tough spot and can't afford for large companies to start exiting--there are already major caution flags for new investment.

Linux luminaries discuss efforts to bring Rust to the kernel

Re: All of that effort

I mostly don't see how there's much argument about it. I'm not writing any kernel contributions, so I just watch from the outside. Clearly they think it is interesting... I'm curious about the possibilities. Linus tends to be conservative and sometimes counterintuitive on some restrictions, so I am mostly depending on him when he allows something vs denies it.

Re: All of that effort

I think the bang for the buck is kernel work that would be lost without rust support. It is yet to be seen if the cost of supporting rust will be worth it, but I am guessing it will. Linux isn't a single entity managed project, so you have to be flexible about working with others.

Twilio more than decimates staff, CEO says it grew too fast

Tough for the CEO

He takes personal responsibility for all of it, but nothing happens to him. Must be really rough.

Twitter, Meta kill hundreds of pro-Western troll accounts

CNA piece on troll farms

CNA recently did a piece on Marcos using troll farms during the election. It is far more interesting than this.

The CHIPS Act won't end US reliance on foreign foundries

I do not believe anyone slightly informed thought this was going to eliminate all dependence. Also, don't forget the shortage for auto makers started because they cancelled their orders at the start of the pandemic.

Philippines orders fraud probe after paying MacBook prices for slow Celeron laptops

Re: Availability

The celeron used is also a modern cpu. The only thing wrong with the hardware is the hdd. It is unclear also if this included years of support... There are a lot of politics involved in this.

Decentralized IPFS networks forming the 'hotbed of phishing'

Re: Bit rich to blame ipfs

Yeah, I'm not very convinced this is really a problem. If your users already know how to not be hit by phishing, they aren't exposed to it. I guess it makes easy press.

Philippines logs on to Starlink for remote area internet services

Actual coverage.

At least initially, Starlink only has coverage over the northern area of the country. This helps some, but the largest need is farther south. The terminals themselves have a cost, but you also have to do an installation in a typhoon prone area with lots of trees. It has been good to watch how advancements in local networks has really accelerated after 2020, though.

Your job was probably outsourced for exactly the reason you suspected

The Philippines wage is not a living wage. No one qualified is going to accept that salary. Even call centers will pay more than that. The price of a US developer is a lot lower if you don't force them to live in places like the bay area. I think you can almost halve that if you hire in places where the cost of living isn't so outrageous.

Uber to pay millions to settle claims it ripped off disabled people with unfair fees

Re: Why is this legal anyway?

This is not the only lawsuit related to this, and they've done great stuff like argue they aren't a ride sharing service.

Even robots have the right to learn from open source

Huh?

Wow.

Anyway, the github license allows them to do what they want with things put there. Read your licenses before you use things.. especially if they're someone like Microsoft. My only question is if someone puts a repo there and isn't associated with the original work that lives elsewhere.

Anyway, for anyone harboring the delusion that github wasn't really Microsoft... now is the time to move off of github.

The App Gap and supply chains: Purism CEO on what's ahead for the Librem 5 USA

Re: 3GB a day huh?

I realize that they pass this information, but was there a real need to say it was 3GB? It is obviously untrue. The math on how much that is per hour/minute does not add up to anything close to reality. I expect people selling me technical products--especially security ones--to not be loose about such things for the sake of sales.

3GB a day huh?

I really hate it when companies push 'facts' that are obviously wrong. Anyone on a metered data plan is quickly going to notice 3GB a day, or 900GB a month of your data being sent back to Apple/Google. When the peddle such obvious lies in things I can quickly check it makes me question everything else they say. The tethering thing is easily avoided on Android phones, and it usually a violation of the TOS and can get your account suspended. They also talk up where the CPU is made, but a quick search shows the modem supplier is Broadmobi Shanghai. The facts are that with that price they have a tiny market when much cheaper alternatives exist.

Zero Trust: What does it actually mean – and why would you want it?

Re: Nomenclature

Exactly. If this is zero trust, it has been regular practice for a long time where I've worked. It does not resemble all the flashy products I've failed to understand...

Zendesk sold to private investors two weeks after saying it would stay public

The company resources.

Lenovo reveals small but mighty desktop workstation

Missing a market.

That nvidia card isn't that great. Intel seems unable to produce NUC extremes in any meaningful volume. If they let it use real GPUs they would sell a whole lot more of them. I think the segment of customers who need a GPU for work but only one this powerful is pretty small..